Grebes are a relatively primitive group of birds that spend almost all of their time on water, when they are not migrating. When they are out on land they aren’t very far from water and if you look at where their legs are attached to their body you can see why. Their legs are attached further back on their body than most birds.
That is great for diving down in the water quickly to catch a lunch of fish or aquatic invertebrates, but not so good for walking on land, without falling on their face. If you are looking for a grebe nest look close to the water because they never go far from it.
Eared grebes migrate through Yellowstone in the spring but occasionally a few stay. During migration I have seen flocks of them on Indian Pond, Blacktail Ponds, and Floating Island Lake. You have to be lucky to catch them because they don’t stay long. They probably nest in several ponds and lakes in Yellowstone but the only place I have seen them is Floating Island Lake, where all of these photos were taken.
This spring I was lucky enough to catch them doing their mating displays. First the male displays to the female.
If she is interested they face each other, rise up with their breasts in the air, and then turn their heads back and forth in a very ritualistic manner.
Once they mate the female lays eggs in a nest very close to the water. After the babies hatch they sometimes ride on their parents back (I haven’t caught that yet). The parents are very attentive and spend a good bit of time diving to catch morsels for the babies to eat.
Their eyes are beautiful aren’t they Barbara. We saw several pairs of them today. Each pair has one or two babies on the back of one parent. The other parent spends all of its time diving for food and feeding the babies and the other parent. Too cute, but about 300 yards out on a lake.
I’ve never seen on this close up and didn’t realize their eyes are red. They are beautiful.